As the mountain pine beetle kills huge swaths of lodgepole pines in Colorado's high mountain ranges, a new line of defense is forming against the voracious insect in foothills communities along the Front Range.

Residents and fire managers in Boulder, Larimer, Jefferson and Douglas counties are banking the revelation that all mature lodgepole pines will be gone in five years will rally efforts to stop the pests.

"This has come to a head because of the amount of acres involved and the Forest Service report," said Tim McSherry, emergency management director for Jefferson County.

State and federal officials announced last week the bark beetle infestation ravaged 500,000 new acres of forests in Colorado in 2007, bringing the total infestation to 1.

The beetles are beginning to breach the Continental Divide, but fire managers and scientists speculate the damage won't be as noticeable or as complete in the foothills near Denver.

Ponderosa pine, not lodgepole, is the dominant tree along the foothills.And historically, beetles start in one species of pine and die in the same species, said Ingrid Aguayo, entomologist with the Colorado State Forest Service. But some say beetles could take out as much as 60 percent of the ponderosa pine.

"Still, it's going to be a lot more spottier," said Larimer County forester Dave Lentz.

Because dead trees — whether they are lodgepole or ponderosa — can lead to economic problems, poor aesthetics and increased fire danger for people living and working in the foothills near Denver, fire managers believe residents will rise to the occasion.

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"The pine-beetle kill might be the smoke in the air this year" to get anti-beetle efforts moving, said Mc Sherry.

"People are realizing there is still time to help themselves," said Lentz.

"Every tree is precious"

In tiny Allenspark in Boulder County, for instance, nearly the entire town of 100 or so residents keeps on the lookout for infested trees and moves quickly to isolate and dispose of them before beetles can move on and infect another tree.

A dead lodgepole pine in Boulder County shows telltale beetle marking when the bark is cut away.
(Brian Brainerd, The Denver Post)

"We believe that every tree is precious," said Edie DeWeese, an Allenspark resident who remembers the last mountain pine beetle outbreak in the 1970s. "But if you are willing to keep the entire forest healthy, that means having to cut down some trees."

DeWeese heads Allenspark Beetle Control, which formed in May. The group divides up the area, and neighborhood captains coordinate mitigation efforts.

"It's something this town has done in the past to deal with the beetles and we are willing to do it again," said resident Carol Halsey.

Boulder County, meanwhile, has bought a $110,000 portable incinerator to destroy trees killed by the beetles. An incinerator also is being used in Rocky Mountain National Park to keep beetles from jumping from tree to tree and to clear trails of dead trees.

Over the summer, crews at Eldora Ski Resort cut down more than 500 infected trees and sprayed others to keep the pine beetle infestation from growing.

"I think a lot of ski operators will agree we need to do something about the infestation; we can't just let it run its course," said Rob Linde, Eldora marketing director. "We do have to protect our recreational resources."

A wake-up call

Officials are re-emphasizing that fire mitigation efforts essential to keeping wildfire risks low — mainly getting landowners to thin out trees — can also be used to fight pine beetles.

That's because dense trees are more susceptible to insect attack.

"This should be a wake-up call to the communities of the Front Range," said Bill Lucatuorto, president of the Jeffco Fire Council. "Defensible space is what we have been preaching for years."

While individuals can do their part, larger efforts have been limited by dollars. Even before the pine beetle raised its ugly head, the Front Range Fuels Treatment Partnership — a coalition of organizations concerned about forest health — estimated in May 2006 that 1.5 million forested acres along the Front Range needed to be treated.

The price tag: about $15 million annually over a 40-year period.

Dan Gibbs, a state senator who represents Summit, Grand, Gilpin, Clear Creek, Jefferson and Boulder counties, re-introduced a bill last week to provide $1 million to continue forest restoration projects.

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